I feel as though I am at the point where I am confident in my ability, comfortable in my setting that I have used my time in the past several weeks to try new teaching techniques, focus on project-based learning and starting focusing more on individual student's needs (i.e. 3 students from my college prep class that do not even blink).
I have met with each student during an advisory period. I have "Advisory Dates" with the students on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The first time I met, I learned about the students, what they enjoyed out of school, their goals after school and how they prefer to learn. They have acknowledged why exactly they are not contributing or interested in the class work. We have also made a deal with "modified lessons" in which they have to check in with me on Advisory date days. So far.......this has worked this week. Next, week I will certainly.....keep you posted if my strategies are working. THIS IS MY GOAL FOR THE REMAINING THREE WEEKS.....it is a class that I have only taken over 2 weeks ago so although I do not have much time.....I am dedicated to making a difference
The last thing that I have learned through out my weeks is how to create my lesson using a backwards approach. I look over the chapter from the text and the GSEs. I pick out the 5 big ideas that I want my students to know. Then I think about what can my students produce (have them doing) that will lead to the "Five Big Ideas." I also think about how can my students produce something or create something that the whole class has to work on in order to ensure that the students will complete their work at the level they are capable of and the level I expect.
This week I tried a WebQuest with my 9th graders, it was my first time ever doing something like this and I think the kids really enjoyed it. It was a good way to get students to interact with the material in a fun way.
As you all know, with the good weather comes animal-like behavior in all high schoolers. Any suggestions on calming the beasts?
Something going well: I am still very comfortable in the classroom and my CT gives me a lot of positive feedback. She feels that my classroom management skills are above par and exceed that of a beginning teacher and that gives me more time to work on other things (like lesson planning) that can improve upon my lessons.
Something to improve upon: Something to improve upon is that I am still thinking "like a high school teacher." I need to understand that Middle Schoolers require more modeling, time, and overall leading then high schoolers. I forget to give certain students their "revised" assessments which they need for their IEP which I catch myself midway through the activity and make sure to give it to them. However, it would benefit them more for me to give it to them at the beginning of the activity rather than in the middle of it.
This week I taught two lessons that went very well.
The first lesson that I taught was for my CP Biology class. It was regarding the nitrogen cycle. I started out by reviewing food webs and how energy flows through the ecosystem, but most of the energy is lost as heat. I moved into the water cycle from here and since most of the students know the water cycle, I had them walk me through it. I then sent them on a journey through the nitrogen cycle through station learning. We reconvened and reviewed the cycle and had a little review game for our quiz.
The lesson I taught today was regarding Earth's interior, minerals and the rock cycle. I created some graphic organizers. We started out with an activity with clay. I gave notes for the earth's interior and had them look through the text for the information on minerals. We then filled out a graphic organizer for the rock cycle and played the rock cycle game
What Went Well...
*I finally got to teach!!
*Making connections to the juniors and seniors who were my toughest audience.
*Speaking up...My CT is not going to offer advice or make plans...I have to ask
What I'm Improving on....
*Adjusting to the block scheduling...all that time!!
My lessons have been going very well. Most of my students are taking well to them and engaging in them, despite the heavy content load that's been in them. We are behind because of the rain days, so topics have to be quick moving. I started this lesson in Protein synthesis where students come up with the main ideas and parallel them into a comic strip. Students are enjoying it so far.
Something that I want to improve upon is creating better worksheets, which we learned about last class. I have been trying to improve my worksheets, so they are easier for students who have lower reading levels.
Some things I think are going well is my relationships with the students. Everyday I try to build strong relationships with my students, based on the foundation of respect and mutual understanding. I try to be fair and respectful to all my students. I also think that my lesson planning is going well. I feel that I am always over prepared both material and content wise. I am truly feeling comfortable in my placement and I continue to learn and improve everyday.
[Invalid Include: Page not found: EDC 484 Virtual Sharing 41301 - AkashS]
[Invalid Include: Page not found: EDC 484 Virtual Sharing 41301 - MitchellT]
- engagement-->climate change/government//easy to relate to student's lives
- grading papers on time and returning in a timely fashion
- student respect
Things that need improvement:-Sharing on 4/13- Ashley Borden's (NKHS)
Something going well: I am still very comfortable in the classroom and my CT gives me a lot of positive feedback. She feels that my classroom management skills are above par and exceed that of a beginning teacher and that gives me more time to work on other things (like lesson planning) that can improve upon my lessons.
Something to improve upon: Something to improve upon is that I am still thinking "like a high school teacher." I need to understand that Middle Schoolers require more modeling, time, and overall leading then high schoolers. I forget to give certain students their "revised" assessments which they need for their IEP which I catch myself midway through the activity and make sure to give it to them. However, it would benefit them more for me to give it to them at the beginning of the activity rather than in the middle of it.
The first lesson that I taught was for my CP Biology class. It was regarding the nitrogen cycle. I started out by reviewing food webs and how energy flows through the ecosystem, but most of the energy is lost as heat. I moved into the water cycle from here and since most of the students know the water cycle, I had them walk me through it. I then sent them on a journey through the nitrogen cycle through station learning. We reconvened and reviewed the cycle and had a little review game for our quiz.
The lesson I taught today was regarding Earth's interior, minerals and the rock cycle. I created some graphic organizers. We started out with an activity with clay. I gave notes for the earth's interior and had them look through the text for the information on minerals. We then filled out a graphic organizer for the rock cycle and played the rock cycle game
*I finally got to teach!!
*Making connections to the juniors and seniors who were my toughest audience.
*Speaking up...My CT is not going to offer advice or make plans...I have to ask
What I'm Improving on....
*Adjusting to the block scheduling...all that time!!
Something that I want to improve upon is creating better worksheets, which we learned about last class. I have been trying to improve my worksheets, so they are easier for students who have lower reading levels.
Some things I think are going well is my relationships with the students. Everyday I try to build strong relationships with my students, based on the foundation of respect and mutual understanding. I try to be fair and respectful to all my students. I also think that my lesson planning is going well. I feel that I am always over prepared both material and content wise. I am truly feeling comfortable in my placement and I continue to learn and improve everyday.